Releases

February 20, 2012 -- The Jesuit Volunteer Corps will welcome students from the University of Michigan and Georgetown University for a service-based spring break program in Detroit in late February and early March.

 “We are looking forward to introducing these students to all facets of life in Detroit,” said Angie Moloney, program director of the Detroit Program Office for JVC. “The common narrative about this city has focused on the negative, but there is so much life and hope that exists here. We will introduce them to some of the wonderful people who are striving to make a real difference in the community and give them an opportunity to see the potential in themselves to make concrete change for good.”

Facilitated by JVC staff, students from St. Mary’s student parish at U-M and Georgetown will have an opportunity to explore one way to continue living out the values of the Jesuit charism after graduation.  They will connect with the current Jesuit Volunteers who are living and working in Detroit and learn about their experiences with full-time service.

Both groups will spend time engaging and reflecting on issues like homelessness, food justice, environmental sustainability, community improvement, and immigration with The N.O.A.H. Project, Capuchin Soup Kitchen, Freedom House, Belle Isle Conservancy, ACCESS, Earthworks Urban Farm, and Urban Neighborhood Initiatives. Throughout the week, the students will reflect on their experiences through the lens of a common theme. For Georgetown, it will be racial identity and its effect on inner city Detroit; for the University of Michigan students, it will be advocacy.

“Unlike those who may travel abroad for service trips, these students will be exposed to social justice issues within their own country, if not their own state,” said Moloney. “It will add a different dimension as they think about the systems that initially created—and subsequent solutions that combat—injustice.”

In addition to the Detroit JVs, they will meet with members of the local Arabic and Hispanic communities and will have an opportunity to visit some of the region’s cultural institutions like the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, The Heidelberg Project, and the Arab American National Museum.

This is the pilot year for an alternative spring break program planned by JVC. It is an effort to use JVC’s knowledge, experience, and relationships in Detroit to expand opportunities for young adults to experience faith-based direct service, advocacy, and work for social justice in a safe and exploratory way.